


A Matter Of Timing

by Rioghna



Category: 101 Dalmatians - All Media Types, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Puppies, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-04
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-07-12 06:55:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7090489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rioghna/pseuds/Rioghna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another escaped puppy adventure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Matter Of Timing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BardicRaven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardicRaven/gifts).



A Matter of Timing

Henry Mills crossed Main Street carefully, heading for the pawnshop. The revelation and subsequent arrival of his father in Storybrooke had taken him not only to a full set of parents, (okay, slightly more since there was still his adopted mother to consider, but she and Emma were still figuring out how that would work) but to a second grandfather, and, he thought, probably a new step grandmother, though he was a little vague about all that romance stuff. But, since his father had asked his mother to dinner, and he needed time away from his other grandparents (not that he didn't like them, but the loft was _way_ crowded right now), he'd asked if he could spend the time with his other grandfather. They were kind of still trying to get to know each other as family.

It had taken some convincing the first time but they had agreed, especially since Belle would be there too. His mom might be uncertain about his grandfather, and his father, well, they were working on their things, but everyone liked Belle. Most people felt that while Rumplestiltskin might be the most feared sorcerer in the realms, with Belle he was...not softer, no one would say that, ever. There was too much chance of slithering home on their own slime trail. But at least he was less prickly. Henry was on his third dinner with them.

Henry had just reached the door of the shop when a Dalmatian puppy shot across the street, barked twice, and ended up with the leash wrapped around his foot, looking up expectantly.

"Did you get lost?" Henry asked, but looking closely, this didn't look exactly like the one that he had found at his grandfather's door before. Henry, who loved all dogs pretty universally, untangled the puppy and picked it up, opening the door.

"Mr...er...." Henry had been having trouble getting used to the idea that Rumplestiltskin was his grandfather. He had known, or at least known of, the pawnbroker all his life. Mr. Gold owned most of the town, and was almost universally hated and feared, whether people had a reason or not. "Grandfather?" he tried again. He was still trying to figure out what to call the man. His father called him 'papa' which seemed a little informal for a man who always wore a suit, but Gold didn't seem to notice.

"Come on in, Henry," Gold called as he stepped through the curtains, the soft *tap* of his cane accompanying his steps. "Who have you there?" he asked, spotting the puppy.

"Came across the street and ran right up to me barking, but it doesn't look like the same one," Henry explained, relieved to be away from the complex question of what to call the man.

"It's not," the sorcerer said, giving the dog a look. "Penny's a female for one. All right, lad, what are you about?" he asked the puppy, who just looked and wagged. "Let's check his collar, the new tags came. Miss Penny is actually across at the library with Belle. Lucky, eh?" he asked. "Well, Lucky, I'm betting that Archie is probably worried sick. Come along, Henry, we'll go meet Belle and return him to Archie.

"I'll take him," Henry said as the puppy squirmed in his grandfather's arms. Lucky wagged hard enough to almost knock himself out of the boy's arms. Henry got a good grip on the leash, but once he put him down, Lucky didn't try to get away, instead, sniffing at his shoes and wiggling around his feet, trying to tie him up in the leash.

Gold turned the sign and they went out on to the street.

"There they are," Henry said, spotting the two humans and their herd of dogs. "Doctor Hopper, Ruby," he called. "Think you lost one."

"Hey Henry. Whoops, looks like one of them did get away again," Ruby said. "It's kind of hard to count when they keep moving. Lucky, go figure. He's a bit like you, kid, he's always looking for an adventure."

"You might consider hiring an extra hand or two," Mr. Gold said, joining them. "They are getting a bit rambunctious. Perhaps one or more assistants might be in order, now that they are getting bigger."

"You might be right," Archie Hopper said, running a hand through his bright red hair. "Even with Ruby, and you and Belle mostly taking Penny, it's still a lot. Henry, you think your Mom would let you help out? I'll pay you a little."

"I can ask," he said. After all it wasn't like a big job and helping walk dogs would be fun, like getting paid to play.

"And maybe one of your friends? That would be four dogs each, much easier," Ruby added. Belle and Rumplestiltskin walked Penny, who at this point was only returning to Archie's in the evening, and that only for a little while longer, as she was on solid food. The sorcerer claimed that she was Belle's but Ruby wasn't fooled. She had seen the puppy at the shop when she went to pay the rent, keeping in step next to the sorcerer. Still, let the man have his pretensions, it was better that way. But, she could see that Lucky was still playing with Henry, mostly ignoring the sorcerer and the two other humans after the expected sniffing. Perhaps, like Penny, Lucky had decided on his own home, and it was a matter of time.

 

"So, how was your dinner, kid?" Emma Swan asked as soon as the door to the Bug closed. She had enjoyed her dinner with Neal. It was starting to feel more and more like they had never broken up, like he'd never left her in the lurch on the word of Pinnochio, because of her 'special destiny'. Emma was not good at trust, but she could see the possibilities. However, they had made the mutual decision to take things slow. Neal was getting to know his father again, getting used to being a father himself, not to mention the addition of a potential step mother ('Papa never dated, never had a woman in the house at all except to clean once he became the Dark One, after my mother. But she was so awful I don't blame him').  Realising she had been distracted, she turned her attention to her son again as she backed out of the Victorian's driveway.

"...and she made a chocolate cake," he enthused about the food. "Belle packed some up for you, it's in my backpack." Dinner on these occasions were at his grandfather's house by unspoken agreement after the first one, when they had taken him out to Granny's, where his parents were having a date. Besides, Belle said she enjoyed having someone other than. Rumplestiltskin to cook for.

"Oh, my...er....grandpa, he kind of helped me get a job," he said. Emma almost grinned. "Grandpa' sounded a little odd when used to describe Rumplestiltskin, but Henry was still figuring out what to call the man. His father called him 'papa' and he was working with it.

"At the shop?" Emma asked. "I'm not..."

"No, nothing official like that, Archie and Ruby lost another one today. I caught him. His name is Lucky. But my grandfather suggested that they needed help."

"He's right," Emma agreed, much more amenable to Henry as junior dog walker, than Henry, pawnbroker's assistant, or worse, sorcerer's apprentice. Rumplestiltskin had told her that her son had magic, but, for once, they had agreed. They would do nothing until he was older unless...well, Gold mentioned accidents, but Emma didn't want to think about that.

 

The next morning, having secured his mother's agreement, and breakfast, Henry left the loft and went down the hall to start his first try as a dog walker. Ruby opened the door when he knocked and Lucky came straight out to greet him, slipping under her feet.

"Okay, you take him," she said. "And grab Penny, Gold and Belle will meet us downstairs. She's going to be leaving for good soon."

"Sure thing," Henry said. He was going to leave Lucky, but the puppy wasn't interested in being left behind, so with a shrug, Henry headed down the stairs with two dogs on their leashes. His grandfather and Belle were just walking up when he opened the door and Penny practically pulled the leash out of his hand, while Lucky just stayed with him, waiting with Henry for a scratch and sniff when they arrived.

"Starting your new job then?" Rumplestiltskin said with a fond smile.

"Mom said it was okay. It's not like it going to be a long one." The couple agreed and, after a few word's Penny made it clear that she was more than ready to start _her_ day, and didn't like her schedule delayed. With a smile and a quick exchange of greetings with Archie and Ruby, and the rest of the canine clan, they went their separate ways.

"Think I'm going to end up allowing a change in another rental agreement," Rumplestiltskin said with a sigh as he watched them go.

"Do you think Emma will let him have one?" Belle asked as she walked beside him, the leash loosely around one hand, her other tucked into her lover's arm.

"I don't imagine she will have a choice," he said with a familiar smirk. "Do you, Miss Penny?" The puppy looked up at him, barked once, and returned to her exploration of a particularly interesting stretch of fence they were passing.

 

"Hey Gold, that critter of yours is loose again," Leroy, Grumpy, said as he pushed the shop door open and a white spotted bundle propelled itself through the door.

"She most certainly is not," Gold said, appearing the in doorway through the curtain in time to encounter a completely different dalmation streaking past him to hop into the lap of his grandson. The dwarf didn't bother to respond, he was already leaving.

Henry was sitting in the back room with his father, listening to the two of them talk, telling a little about their life before...

"This the little guy who invited himself for pizza two nights ago?" Bae asked, scratching him on the head.

"I'll call Archie," Rumplestiltskin said. "If I were you, I would start convincing..." Rumplestiltskin didn't really know how to address Emma Swan. She and Bae were not married or betrothed, they had most certainly been lovers at one time, Henry was living proof of that, and they had been seeing each other again, but he was an old fashioned imp, and would not inquire. "The sheriff," he said, settling for simple. "They are very smart and very determined. I suspect that Lucky's chosen you, lad." Lucky, who had wiggled his way between them and was busy licking Bae's ear, didn't bother to stop.

"Well," his son said, shrugging. "You always let me have one."

"Exactly," the sorcerer said as Penny, who had been laying quietly on her comfortable cushion under the work table taking a nap, came and put two paws on her now seated master's leg.

"Archie," he said into the phone. "I think you are missing a puppy again. However, the good news is, I think he'd decided on a home."

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday, Bardic Raven. Tradition demands that I write you a birthday story, and since these are all your fault anyway....Sorry it's late. 
> 
> For everyone else, please enjoy and please leave a comment in the little box. My sister challenged me to find homes for all the puppies, so if you want to see a story in this 'verse, and have a place you would like to have a puppy, leave a challenge in the box.


End file.
